Chaos Reins
by walkinthedarkTAI
Summary: 1st through 7th In the world of the Marauders, chaos reins. Friendships and rivalries alike are made and broken as the students of Hogwarts struggle their way through school and the first real milestone of their lives.
1. Chapter 1

1"Mum, please, you really need to get off. I'm serious, mum, I'm going to miss the train."

Platform Nine and Three Quarters was overcrowded in the last ten minutes before the train left. Older and more responsible students were helping the younger students get situated, while the more troublesome ones were doing whatever they possibly could to stop the latter group. Nicole Canavril was being strangled in an over-protective hug by her over-protective mother. Finally, she was let go, and was nervously looked around the platform. She was a Muggle-born and didn't know anyone from the new school that she would be attending, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Alright, dear, I put some stamps in your trunk, and I've sent you with a few pounds in case you want to take a cab home." Mrs. Canavril was a Muggle, as was Mr. Canavril, and although Nicole's knowledge of her new world was minimal, she had been told just enough to know that pounds and stamps would do her no good.

The chilly September breeze whipped the few leaves that had fallen from the trees in a whirlwind. Red, orange, yellow and brown leaves danced around and whipped people in the faces. The Hogwarts Express sounded a shrill whistle, and anyone who was left on the platform began to move towards the train.

Mrs. Canavril wailed, and more tears fell out of her intense brown eyes that were so much like Nicole's. Throwing her arms around her young daughter's neck, she was so overcome by tears that she barely managed to whisper, "Oh, come home, sweetie. I made a mistake letting you go. You're much too young to go off to school. Won't you miss your friends?"

Nicole said nothing. She didn't tell her mother, but she didn't like most of her classmates; or the fact that she was seen as the quiet one. That was something Nicole intended to change; she had a chance to start over.

Nicole let her mother squeeze her for a few moments longer before making a weird grumbling sound in her throat. Sarcastically, Nicole said, "Mum, I know you want to get rid of me, but if you suffocate me I can't come back, ever."

Finally, by the coaxing of Mr. Canvril, Nicole was released from her mother's hold. Giving her father a hug and promising to write, she boarded the train. She wandered a bit around the train with her luggage dragging along the hard wooden floor behind her. She was not quite sure where to go, but asking someone to help would have embarrassed her.

Nicole walked on, hoping to find an open compartment in the train. With a jolt, the Hogwarts Express began to move, and Nicole stumbled forward, unfortunately for her, into another person.

He wasn't knocked over, but Nicole went sprawling to the floor. Her old wooden trunk made a loud sound when as it clattered to the floor.

Looking up, Nicole saw that the person was quite a bit taller than her, but seemed to be around her age, i maybe /i a year older. He had somewhat short black hair and bright grey eyes. His face was long and his jaw bone already beginning to square. He wore a set of forest green robes, sort of like the ones that Nicole had bought for school, but different.

"I'm sorry," said Nicole, barely intelligible with nervousness. The boy just looked at her and offered his hand to help her up. Nicole took his hand and smiled and he helped pull her from the ground. She walked over to her trunk and stood it back up. "My name's Nicole Canavril; I'm a first- year."

"Hi, I'm Sirius Black, and I suppose we're classmates." He smiled widely, revealing a set of almost perfectly white teeth. "Did you need a place to sit? My compartment's empty except for me."

"Thank you very much; I've been searching for a while." Nicole grunted slightly as she began to drag her trunk behind her once again.

"It's right in here." The boy named Sirius Black pointed into a compartment to the right about a few meters ahead of where the two had collided.

Nicole heaved her trunk into a corner and left it there, not daring to try and lift it onto a rack. She collapsed onto one of the leather seats, exhausted from the workout of carrying her trunk.

"So," began Sirius. "What house do you think you're going to be in?"

"Oh, well, I'm not sure. What are the requirements?" Nicole felt a bit stupid. She'd done a bit of reading on the wizarding world, and some person from her new school, Hogwarts, told her about the four houses but not how to get into them.

"Are you Muggle-born?" Sirius continued after Nicole nodded. "Well, I actually don't know too much; only that my parents are attempting to force me into Slytherin." His made a sour face and paused for a moment. "You don't want to be there, not if my family is any example of that lot. They hate people like you; they believe you have dirty blood and shouldn't be allowed to do magic."

"Oh, okay." Nicole was silent; she wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to respond to what Sirius' had told her. She was upset and horrified that people would have prejudice like that.

"But I don't think that, I swear," Sirius quickly added, not wanting Nicole to get the wrong idea.

The sliding compartment door opened, a boy with brown hair who was even taller than Sirius walked in followed by another boy, with lighter blonde hair. The first boy could certainly be considered rather attractive. His dull but shining blue eyes complimented his pale skin. The only unattractive feature he had was the bruise-like circles under his eyes.

The boy behind him was not unattractive, but neither was he attractive. He was more plain than anything else. He was shorter than Sirius, and his round face was chubby as most of the first -years' faces were. His gray eyes were slightly more closed than they probably should have been. His nose was small, and his hair was coiffed in the way that only a mother would arrange.

The boy in the front spoke up first. "Hi, er, I'm Remus Lupin, and this is Peter Pettigrew. We were wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing your compartment."

"Of course!" said Sirius, making an overly large and unnecessary gesture of welcome. "The more the merrier!"

The two boys seated themselves, and Nicole introduced herself, followed by Sirius.

The group chatted amiably about what they thought school was going to be like, and Nicole found herself oddly comfortable with these kids. She was usually very awkward in social situations, and couldn't understand why this was any different. However, she didn't have time to dwell on the matter, as it was too trivial for her young mind to stop on.

A middle-aged witch with slightly graying black hair appeared in the doorway. "Anything off the trolley?"

"Bloody hell, look at all the treats!" Sirius cried. He jumped up and snatched a large gold coin from his luggage. He bounded across the small compartment and got a healthy number of each of the candy on the trolley.

Sirius threw a brightly wrapped candy to Nicole. "This is amazing! Mum never let me eat candy at home!"

Nicole tore open the wrapper and squealed as the chocolate inside jumped into her lap, then out of the compartment following the trolley witch.

Nicole stared after the chocolate frog for a while, even after it was out of her vision. "Er, was that supposed to happen?"

Without waiting for a reply, Nicole threw the wrapper aside and grabbed another candy. This time, she wanted to eat the candy. She had seen Sirius, and if he could eat the candy without it wriggling free, she surely could as well. She open the package carefully this time, holding the squirming frog tight and sinking her teeth into the oddly textured, yet delicious chocolate. "This is amazing! And, what's with these cards?"

Sirius sighed. "You've got so much to learn, Nicole, so much to learn."


	2. Chapter 2

1When the newly made friends stepped off the train and saw Hogwarts, none could look away. The beautiful stone castle was magnificently lit against the cloudy night sky. The area was rather foggy and did nothing but enhance the castle's beauty.

"Bloody hell," whispered Sirius.

"Firs' years follow me!" Nicole looked towards the source of the voice and almost chocked on the air she was breathing. Standing a few meters away was a man, though he sure didn't look like one.

He had to stand at least ten feet tall, likely more. His face and scarily massive hands were covered with coarse brown hair. The man's clothing was obviously not bought in a store; the crude animal skin material could not be bought, and certainly not in such a large size.

Sirius seemed to realise Nicole's amazement and whispered, "That's Hagrid. My parents have spoken of his crude, Gryffindor ways; they can't stand him . . . That means he'll probably be the coolest person at Hogwarts, besides me, of course."

As arrogant as he may have been, Nicole couldn't help but love Sirius' jovial nature. "A bit full of ourselves, aren't we?"

"Yes." Sirius smiled. "We are."

The harsh September breeze and light mist of rain that had just started dowsed the First years as they made their way over to the giant man, Hagrid. Peter, Remus, Sirius and Nicole were ushered into a boat by him. Nicole didn't feel the need to say so, but Hagrid intimidated her, though after a good look at the rugged giant, the kindness in his eyes gave him away to be friendly.

All four started, wide-eyed at the castle as the rest of it came into view. It looked even more surreal with its reflection shining in the black water.

Eventually though, on the rather long journey across the lake, looking at the same view got tiring. No matter how picturesque the vision was, hardly anything could hold the attention of a group of First years for more than a few moments.

Deciding the silence that had fallen upon the new friends needed to be broken, Nicole decided to feed her curiosity and ask Sirius a question. "Sirius," she said. When he turned towards her, she continued by saying, rather quietly, "Why is it that you're so different from your parents? From the impression I get, you don't like them much and their ideas are so different from yours. I realise it all, but I just cannot figure out why."

Sirius eyes clouded over and for split moment, his young eleven year old's face became much older than what should be possible. When he spoke, his voice was normal, but his eyes betrayed the shakiness that would have possessed his voice. "I don't even know, truthfully. All I know is that straight from the beginning, even before I hated my parents, my views seemed to different from theirs. It was like I missed some horrible gene they all have. I'm like none of my family; well, except a few. Even I can't figure out, how growing up in a house of purebloods, I managed to come out the way I am." Sirius stopped, and didn't seem to want to go into it any further. Nobody blamed him; the way he had spoken was beyond his years, and the situation with his family was obviously not a good one.

Nicole berated herself for bringing up Sirius' parents. She hadn't thought before she'd spoken, something she knew she didn't to get a handle on.

Sirius, noting what his story had done to his friends, decided that he needed to do something to free the air of tension. He looked quickly out to the lake and leaned backwards over the edge of the rickety boat. He grabbed Nicole's wrist just as he hit the water and pulled her backwards too.

Remus and Peter both gasped and reached over the edge to try and catch their friends, after realising what was happening. Neither Peter or Remus was able to reach them in time. Remus still tried through the end, though, and ended up splashing into the water as well. Peter sat in the boat, bewildered at what had happening to all of his friends. Quickly and smiling, he jumped in too.

The splash, while breaking the silence, attracted the stares of many classmates, earning all three kids in the water eye rolls and scoffs. Occasionally a dry laugh or two could be heard. Remus, Peter, Nicole and Sirius were all shivering and, with their teeth chattering, clambered back into the boat with the help of each other.

Nicole, Peter and Remus glared at Sirius once they were safely back into the boat and Hagrid had checked up with them to make sure that they were alright. "What? I just wanted to clear the air."

Remus, who was rather quiet, but seemed especially charismatic, smiled and said, "Okay, let's start over; we'll pretend that nothing ever happened."

They all agreed, but even if they hadn't, the wind chill that was only made worse by soaking wet clothing would have been enough to take Nicole, Sirius, and Remus' minds off of anger and awkwardness.

Nicole shivered and shook as a particularly rough breeze passed. Noticing this, Sirius offered her the extra sweater he had brought along. Nicole thanked him greatly and slipped the soft green material over her head.

A soft bump alerted the four children that they had reached the other side of the lake. They all clambered out of the boat and followed the line of other first year students already making their way towards the grandiosely lit castle.

"I can already tell I'm going to like it here," whispered Sirius.

Nicole nodded affirmatively. As much as she liked her old home, she was sure this would be the place she felt truly comfortable at. As much as she loved her old friends (the few that gave her shy personality a chance), she was sure she'd love her new friends here more. As much as she adored being with her parents, she preferred being independent and self-sufficient.

Nicole pulled her arms inside Sirius' sweater to warm herself further. As she trudged up to the castle it's beauty recaptured her mind. But before she knew it, Nicole was being whisked into the school. She, alone with Remus and Sirius, got a disapproving look from the stern lady who ushered them in a direction.

It was loud and crowded as one of the teachers, the person that Nicole knew as 'the stern lady' stood in front of the students and began to speak. Nicole hardly payed attention as the lady rambled on and on in a monotonous tone.

Nicole couldn't stop looking at her new friends. Even at first glance, they were all utterly different. Exchanging a few glances with her friends reassured her thoughts that this was the place for her.

Nicole only became aware of her surroundings once again as she was pushed lightly forward. She fell into line with the others students and gaped along with them as a large set of doors were pushed open, unveiling a large dining hall filled with older students and teachers.

The lady (whom Nicole had learned was to be called Professor McGonagall) left the room shortly and returned with a three-legged stool. She took a tattered old hat and placed it on top.

Nicole watched as students were placed in various houses, and Sirius himself in Gryffindor. She felt herself smile; Sirius would be glad that he wasn't in Slytherin. Nicole felt a chill run through her when her name was called. She slowly walked towards the stool, being careful not to trip over anything.

Nicole sat down on the uncomfortable stool and her vision was obstructed as the hat fell over her eyes. She was extremely surprised when the hat began to talk to her.

"Not Hufflepuff, certainly not Hufflepuff."

Nicole didn't know whether Hufflepuff was a good house or not, but she wanted to know why she wasn't going to be in it. After all, a bit of knowledge about herself couldn't hurt.

The hat seemed to be able to read Nicole's thoughts and answered in a raspy voice. "Because, whether you know it now or not, you're not the most personable person in the world. Hufflepuffs are very social creatures, and often like to follow a routine. They're also uncannily nice to others. You, my dear, I'm afraid, fit none of those categories; or, at least you will not in the future."

Nicole was horrified. She knew she wasn't too fond of people, but she didn't need a ruddy hat to tell her that she was mean.

Again sensing her thoughts, the sorting hat spoke again. "Don't worry, dear. You're not mean per se, just, well, watch how you are when you're older and you'll see. Sometimes it just takes a while for true characteristics to shine through."

Nicole was getting frustrated with the hat. She knew for a fact that there were still three more houses for her to be evaluated for, and she honestly didn't have the patience to wait for the hat to go through with it all.

"Have no patience, do we? Well, I'll make it quick, then. I'd have to say that Ravenclaw may suit you. You've got natural smartness and wit that will certainly be clear if you give your brain time to mature to it's level; not to mention, natural wit. You'd fit in perfectly there. Yet, you don't have the patience to spend time studying. As much as you crave knowledge, you won't likely go through lengths to get it. That leaves Slytherin or Gryffindor. Such a terribly hard choice."

Nicole's mind snapped to what Sirius had said. His family were bad witches and wizards, and all in Slytherin. But Nicole had glanced at the green clad table earlier and the bunch did not look all that horrid. Nicole decided to disregard what Sirius had said. His prejudices would not stop her from being in her true house.

Outside Nicole's head, a some members of the student body watched the young girl being sorted, but many were also absorbed in their own conversations.

The sorting hat again spoke to Nicole. "So, not letting your friend's thoughts effect you? Certainly a Slytherin quality. Yet, at the same time, a Gryffindor's because it takes true bravery to disregard what a friend says. And I certainly sense a drive and need to be the best that would certainly place you in Slytherin house if not for your apparent modesty and sense of humour to balance it out."

At this point, Nicole was honestly ready to fall asleep on the chair. Boredom on top of her lack of her lack of food was making her utterly tired.

My dear, you have been especially difficult to place, but I believe I have made my decision."

Finally thinking out loud, rather than just having the sorting hat hear her thoughts, Nicole thought, "I think I truly get it. You don't actually do the sorting yourself. The students do it on their own, you're just here to help them along."

The sorting hat chuckled and if it had eyebrows, it would have raised them at the young girl's insight.

"Gryffindor and Slytherin don't seem too different to me. They both sound very regal and pridefull."

But Nicole didn't think that the sorting hat heard her last thought, because it was too busy calling out the word, "Slytherin!"


	3. Chapter 3

1The Great Hall broke out into the mild applause that every student gets when they are sorted.

As the hat was taken from Nicole's head, she hopped off the stool and nervously strode towards the Slytherin table. She braved a glance towards her friends and saw their dumbstruck faces. She felt a little bad that she wouldn't be in the same house as Sirius, but hoped that some of her other friends would. If not, she hoped at least that the difference in houses wouldn't change their friendship.

She sat down nervously at the table with her house mates, and was relieved when a girl who looked a few years older leaned over and said. "Hi, I'm Narcissa Black, and you are?"

"Nicole Canavril," answered Nicole in a timid voice; older students had always made her nervous. "Are you Sirius Black's sister?"

Narcissa sorted. "Thank merlin, no! That wretched cousin of mine has gone to the dark side. He's been sorted in the Blood Traitor house."

Nicole was a bit confused. She didn't understand why Narcissa didn't like Sirius, he was so nice. And what in the world was a Blood Traitor?

Before Nicole could venture to ask what a Blood Traitor was, realization hit her. Nicole remembered what Sirius had said about his family being a bunch of bad witches and wizards; likely, Narcissa was one of them. "What's a Blood Traitor?"

One of Narcissa's blond, delicate eyebrows escalated and she narrowed her eyes at Nicole. Nicole sat uncomfortably, her own dark, thin eyebrows furrowed in nervousness. "What blood are you?" spat Narcissa.

A naive and young girl, Nicole did not yet have the sense or cunning to lie. "I'm Muggle-born, I think."

Her voice filled with utter disgust and hatred, Narcissa said, "Then it's best if you ask Dumbledore for a house change. You don't belong in Slytherin. Myself and the rest of my pureblood mates will see to it that your stay here is horrid."

Narcissa frowned and immediately turned the person on her right. She whispered something too them, and that person immediately frowned at Nicole as well. The same sort of passing went on for a few people, and probably more after that, but Nicole could no longer stand to look.

Her mind flitted back to her sorting. The hat had said she could have ended up in Gryffindor, because she was so like one in ways. So why could she not use her bravery against the rest of her house mates? She would not fall back. Nicole would not let these people intimidate her. If what Sirius had said about them and .

Set in her decision, Nicole tapped Narcissa on the shoulder. She spun around. "What do you want, filthy scum?"

Taking a deep breath, Nicole said, "To tell you that you don't scare me. Sure, I suppose I don't know as many spells as you, but I'm worth a million of you."

Narcissa began to snarl a response, but Nicole abruptly stood up and strode across the hall. She noticed many people eating, so she must have missed something important; but she didn't care, no matter what house she was in, she wasn't aware of a rule that said you couldn't visit others.

As she kept walking, she couldn't believe what she had done. She had stood up against an older student, and felt good about herself. She was not going to be humbled and brought down by them; she only hoped that Sirius wouldn't hate her after she was sorted into Slytherin.

When Nicole went and sat down next to Sirius he turned to her, his expression full of slight sadness. "How did you become one of them?"

Nicole didn't want to say the wrong thing. She wasn't one of those girls who was effortlessly friends with everyone, mostly because she didn't feel that she could get along with a majority of the people who walked the earth. Also, partly because, especially at the tender age of eleven, she had the habit of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. So before Nicole spoke, she thought about how to make sure that Sirius, Remus and Peter, who were all sitting around her awaiting the response, didn't hate her guts. "I honestly don't know. The sorting hat just chose it; I do know that your cousin and I positively loathe each other already, though."

Nicole watched Sirius' face anxiously as he thought about what she had said. "Well, personally, I was horrible enough to be mean to you just because you're in Slytherin, I'd be just as bad as them.."

"Well, Sirius, Remus, Peter, I'm hope that you'll all except my hand in friendship."

The boys exchanged looks and extended their hands to each other. The gripped each other's hands and held tight. Little did they know, their new friendship was about to be intruded on. Of course, not all intrusions are bad.


End file.
